Introduction to Wireless USB (WUSB)

Introduction

Wireless USB (WUSB) products are finally arriving at the market and in this article you will learn more about this technology and see some usage examples.

The goal of wireless USB is to connect peripherals such as printers, external hard disk drives, sound cards, media players and even video monitors to the PC wirelessly. This can be done by two forms. If the PC and/or the device don’t have native support to WUSB, you must install a dongle to convert a standard USB port into WUSB. If the PC and/or the device already have native support to WUSB – i.e., they come with a WUSB antenna – no extra device is needed. Up to 127 peripherals can be connected using a single antenna on the PC.

The maximum theoretical transfer rate from WUSB is the same as USB 2.0: 480 Mbps (60 MB/s) if the device is within 3 meters (9.84 feet) from the PC or 110 Mbps (13.75 MB/s) if the device is within 10 meters (32.8 feet) from the PC. As you can see, the more distant the devices are from the PC, lower is the transfer rate.

Bluetooth is another wireless technology that allows the connection between the PC and peripherals without wires. At this time, however, Bluetooth is targeted to low-speed devices only, as its maximum transfer rate is of 1 Mbps (128 KB/s) or 3 Mbps (384 MB/s), depending on the Bluetooth generation (1 and 2 with EDR, Enhanced Data Rate, respectively). The next Bluetooth generation is scheduled to have the same transfer rate as WUSB, but this technology is not yet available.

Wireless USB works on the UWB frequency range (Ultra Wide Band, from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz), while Bluetooth technology works on 2.4 GHz frequency, the same used by IEEE 802.11 wireless networks (Wi-Fi).

By the way, the first time we’ve heard about Wireless USB (WUSB) was during IDF Spring 2004, and the pictures shown in the next page were taken during IDF Fall 2008, showing how long it takes from the formation of a consortium to the launch of products on the market. Another interesting thing to notice is that at that time Intel forecasted that first WUSB products would reach the market by the end of 2005, also showing us how previsions are just a guess and can be completely wrong.

Gabriel Torres is a Brazilian best-selling ICT expert, with 24 books published. He started his online career in 1996, when he launched Clube do Hardware, which is one of the oldest and largest websites about technology in Brazil. He created Hardware Secrets in 1999 to expand his knowledge outside his home country.